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Altruistic

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by neoreaves » Sun Apr 25, 2010 5:31 am
All actions are motivated by self-interest, since any action that is apparently altruistic can be described in terms of self-interest. For example, helping someone can be described in terms of self-interest: the motivation is hope for a reward or other personal benefit to be bestowed as a resul of the helping action.

Which one of the following most accurately describes an error in the argument's reasoning ?

A) The term "self-interest" is allowed to shift in meaning over the course of the argument.

B) The argument takes evidence showing merely that its conclusion could be true to constitute evidence showing that the conclusion is in fact true.

C) The argument does not explain what is meant by "reward" and "personal benefit"

D) The argument ignores the possibility that what is taken to be necessary for a certain interest to be a motivation actually suffices to show that that interest is a motivation.

E) The argument depends for its appeal only on the emotional content of the example cited.
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Source: — Critical Reasoning |

by akhpad » Sun Apr 25, 2010 5:49 am
B could be
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by harshavardhanc » Sun Apr 25, 2010 5:58 am
neoreaves wrote:All actions are motivated by self-interest, since any action that is apparently altruistic can be described in terms of self-interest. For example, helping someone can be described in terms of self-interest: the motivation is hope for a reward or other personal benefit to be bestowed as a resul of the helping action.

Which one of the following most accurately describes an error in the argument's reasoning ?

A) The term "self-interest" is allowed to shift in meaning over the course of the argument.

B) The argument takes evidence showing merely that its conclusion could be true to constitute evidence showing that the conclusion is in fact true.

C) The argument does not explain what is meant by "reward" and "personal benefit"

D) The argument ignores the possibility that what is taken to be necessary for a certain interest to be a motivation actually suffices to show that that interest is a motivation.

E) The argument depends for its appeal only on the emotional content of the example cited.
error in reasoning....a faulty assumption.

the author makes the assumption that reward is the only reason why someone helps ppl. It may be true in some cases, but we can't be sure that this is true every time. B paraphrases this. Hence, B IMO.
Regards,
Harsha
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by bichoo » Mon Apr 26, 2010 7:53 am
IMO B

What is OA?
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by gmatguy81 » Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:24 am
b+1
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by pkw209 » Mon Apr 26, 2010 4:36 pm
I would go B based on POE.
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by bleedthegmat » Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:34 am
neoreaves wrote:All actions are motivated by self-interest, since any action that is apparently altruistic can be described in terms of self-interest. For example, helping someone can be described in terms of self-interest: the motivation is hope for a reward or other personal benefit to be bestowed as a resul of the helping action.

Which one of the following most accurately describes an error in the argument's reasoning ?

A) The term "self-interest" is allowed to shift in meaning over the course of the argument.

B) The argument takes evidence showing merely that its conclusion could be true to constitute evidence showing that the conclusion is in fact true.

C) The argument does not explain what is meant by "reward" and "personal benefit"

D) The argument ignores the possibility that what is taken to be necessary for a certain interest to be a motivation actually suffices to show that that interest is a motivation.

E) The argument depends for its appeal only on the emotional content of the example cited.
POE -> B

What is the source of this question.
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